Blogs from Giardini Naxos, Sicily, Italy, Europe

We spent the past weekend homebound, as on Saturday we were recovering from our all-day outing to Agrigento the day before; and on Sunday the weather was positively wretched, with rain showers, wind and chilly temperatures throughout the day. So when we awoke to clear skies this morning, we were anxious to relieve our “cabin fever”. Our goal was to walk a section of Taormina we’d not yet explored, and then to stop by the tour agency office to see if it might be possible to arrange for a last-minute excursion to Mt. Etna before we leave. Unfortunately, the agency has not received enough reservations to satisfy its minimum requirements to conduct the tour. Just below the Corso Umberto stands the 14th century Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano, a masterpiece of Sicilian gothic architecture, with characteristic ... read more

Geo: 37.8253, 15.2667I got a tolerable night's sleep that included a little wakeup around 3am local time so I ended up talking to Mike on Facetime-- kind of fun.  Apparently the rose bushes that I ordered several months ago decided to show up in time for someone else to have the fun of planting them. From what I understand, trying to unearth rosebushes from their nest of packing peanuts can be a painful process.So far, I'm not a huge fan of Italian bus drivers.  Generally when I travel, bus drivers seem to recognize that I'm clueless and could use a little help, specifically, a shove or a shout when my stop comes up. These guys are 0 for 2 so far.  They don't seem to care if I get off where I need to.  I got ... read more

I woke up early! I was warned that several rooms would be leaving at 6 am, and they were noisy but it was ok, just part of a B & B! I got up and walked along the waterfront. Mt. Etna was postcard perfect, so I have some nice shots. What a surprise to see a huge cruise ship pulling up to the pier!!! Ugh. Buses lined up, tour boats ready, all the restaurants and bars open, and a very friendly talkative guy cleaning up the street messes from the night before. He pointed out Etna, Castelmola, Taormina, etc. etc. in Italian, but I understood perfectly! I returned to my "villa." Breakfast this morning was the same as yesterday except fresh mozzerella was substituted for the spinach. I decided I would picnic on the beach today, ... read more

For Easter, Allison and I had planned a relaxing day lounging on the beach. Our Italian-only speaking inn keeper had told us that breakfast was served until 10, so we woke up about 9:30 to take advantage of the free food. However, Allison woke up not feeling great/wanting to sleep more, so I went down to brave the breakfast room on my own. I walked downstairs and into the room where he indicated we should come for breakfast, and found a cute little dining area, nicely decorated with lots of paintings of beautiful nature scenery. There were about 15 tables, all set, and a buffet with plates, glasses, butter, and jam displayed, but the lights were off and there was no food (or people) in sight. I walked into the little kitchen off the dining room ... read more